New Delhi, July 11, 2021: Mindtree Limited, an Indian multinational information technology and outsourcing company, has spent nearly Rs 8 Cr on different CSR activities in the financial year 2020-21. The company which had a total CSR obligation of Rs 13.60 crore for the year, did set off the remaining amount with the excess CSR expenditure last year.
The Bangalore-based company’s average net profit for the last three financial years for the purpose of computation of CSR stood at Rs. 680.05 crores. Accordingly, the prescribed CSR budget for the company in the year 2020-21 amounted to Rs. 13.60 crores, which is calculated as 2% of the average net profit of the past three years.
As per the CSR policies, a company is allowed to offset the excess CSR amount spent during the previous years in the subsequent three years. Since the company has done excess CSR spent to the tune of Rs 22 Cr in 2019-20, it leveraged the same to set off Rs 5.6 Cr this financial year.
As per the annual report of the company, its "CSR endeavors focus attention towards the disadvantaged, vulnerable, and marginalized stakeholders. Our Mindtree Foundation spreads its initiatives across education for the under privileged, support for people with disabilities, and empowering the women and youth of the country."
The location for CSR activities of the company was mostly in and around the city of Bengaluru.
The company implements its CSR initiatives via three channels:
- Directly by Mindtree
- Through Mindtree Foundation
- Through "Individual Social Responsibility" programs undertaken by Mindtree Minds and supported by Mindtree as appropriate
For the financial year 2020-21, Mindtree, which is a part of the Larsen & Toubro Group, spent Rs. 6.16 crores directly and Rs. 1.65 crores via Mindtree Foundation on CSR activities.
Composition of the CSR Committee
Ms. Deepa Gopalan Wadhwa is the Chairperson of the company’s CSR committee. Other key members are Ms. Apurva Purohit, Mr. Bijou Kurien, and Mr. Dayapatra Nevatia. The constituted CSR committee seems to have failed miserably when it comes to its responsibility of formulating and monitoring Mindtree’s Corporate Social Responsibility policy.
Mindtree CSR - Focus Areas
According to its CSR policy, the CSR initiatives of Mindtree are focused on supporting the following:
- People with disabilities
- Sustainable livelihood
- Education
- Prison inmates’ welfare
- Economically weaker sections of society
- Pandemic relief
The company undertook as many as nine CSR projects with eights NGO partners. There was a total of 18,087 beneficiaries of its projects. The company also offered COVID relief benefits to five states. It also worked for prisoner welfare program amidst the COVID crisis.
Besides this, the company also took COVID related welfare measures for its employees.
"We continued to spend resources on CSR and COVID-related ‘We Care’ initiatives in the midst of the pandemic while we pursued business success. For us, employee well-being is extremely important and hence we have agreed to cover vaccination expenses for Mindtree Minds as well as their immediate families as part of our wellness initiatives," says Vinit Teredesai, Chief Financial Officer, Mindtree.
Further, Mindtree’s CSR primarily focuses on programs that:
- Benefit the differently-abled
- Promote education
- Create sustainable livelihood opportunities
Mindtree has operations across the globe with offices in America, Europe, India, Middle East and Africa.
The company is engaged in providing varied services including consulting, enterprise IT transformation & automation, data and intelligence, digital security, cloud operations and management, data modernization, etc.
Some of the key CSR projects undertaken by the company below:
Bal Sevika: This program helps improve the employability of young rural/ urban women through the following ways: child development, preschool education, health, nutrition, social work, computer education, spoken English, and preparation of teaching aids so that they can earn their livelihood.
Yuva Jyoti: This project provides alternative livelihood skills training for school dropouts and unemployed rural youths through training in tailoring, computer education (Basic, DTP, and Tally), and embroidery.
Gubbachi: Under this project, the company teaches foundational literacy and numeracy skills to children of migrants enrolled in Class 1 to 3, thereby creating a positive condition for their continued education
Radio City Central Prison: Mindtree Foundation launched a radio station within the prison for the benefit of more than 7,000 prison inmates. Around 125 prison inmates and personnel were trained as radio jockeys by the team of Radio City 91.1 FM, who also provided complete technical consultation services for setting up this radio station. This initiative aims to use music as a therapeutic medium to relieve mental stress and anxiety and instill positive energy amongst the inmates. The radio program also creates awareness on various topics and circulates news on current affairs.
